Welcome to Show #52!
Whoops. This is what happens when you do too many shows per week. Sometimes, you forget to create an important segment… like the opening and closing segments of this week’s Babylon Podcast.
A rogue telepath is being interrogated by the Psi Cops, and at the moment of death he gleans a clue to where he might find more runaways: Babylon 5.
Bester arrives on B5, looking for Talia’s help in uncovering the rogue telepaths and bringing them in from the cold. Before he can completely convince her to help him, he’s attacked by the rogues and they take Talia away with them.
We learn which member of the command staff has been helping those telepaths inclined to do so escape the far reach of Psi Corps, and we see a familiar Lurker come to the forefront, learning once again that not everyone is exactly what they seem.
We also discover that there may be quite a bit more to the gifts Talia received as a farewell from Jason Ironheart, and that those undiscovered talents help tip the balance in a telepath battle for survival on the station.
Episode order for this section of Season 2 is also discussed.
“A Race Through Dark Places” is available for download at iTunes.
images courtesy Babylon5.ru and the Lurker’s Guide
Your feedback does matter, and is welcome! You can call us, or email us and tell us what you think… and likely hear it played or read on the show. Please try to keep the voicemail comments as brief as possible.
Shameless related begging: Summer’s also really hoping to convince the publisher to eventually do a collection on Babylon 5. If you’d be interested in buying one if they did do a B5 collection, let Summer know, here in comments.
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What no Jarsto segment NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
Never fear… Jarsto is never very far away!
I was going to make a comment about how this podcast is like spending an inordinate sum of money on drugs whose fix keeps getting shorter and shorter, then you go through withdrawl and gain massive weight because your sweeth tooth is enhanced.
But I couldn’t tie it into Babylon 5 so I won’t.
Instead all I can think of is “Dude, does Michael watch Keith Olbermann? If so, keep it up bro!”
Now I don’t feel so bad with my work habits.
Pardon me while I duck
Thanks, Dave!
I think…
The Babylon Podcast- more addicting than heroin! So it’s like good for you…and stuff…
I can see it now. Supermodels hitting the runway with iPod earbuds in place, because they’re listening to the Babcast instead of shooting up in the bathroom.
Bester may not be a bad guy per se, but he is, at the very least, amoral: he will use any means necessary to protect the corp.
I think Bester would totally agree with what The Operative from Serenity said, “I’m a monster. What I do is evil. I have no illusions about it, but it must be done.”
In fact, I think Bester views himself as a noble monster. He’s sacrificing himself for a greater cause.
Ditto, you are spot on. If you read the Psi-corp trilogy you may even grow to, dare I say, like Bester. I even wept for him in the third book. Who would of thought I would shed a tear for Bester!
I’m watching the series (again!) and am in the middle of Ship of Tears. I always felt that was a turning point in the series for the Bester character and you begin to realize he’s not at all two-dimensional (few are on Babylon 5).
I’ve read the Psi Corps trilogy a couple of times. It’s excellent. One of the most refreshing aspects of those books is that it gives greater depth to Bester’s character without merely writing it as “he was just misunderstood”. In the end, his normal responses ultimately undo him, and it becomes a tragedy in the Shakespearean sense of the word.
But make no mistake – Bester does NOT see himself as a monster. In fact, he tells Garibaldi exactly that in “Dust to Dust”. Yes, he does have little compunction about killing rogue teeps – but that’s a painful duty he must perform. And tossing normals out the airlock is to be celebrated – because, after all, the ultimate war will be the telepaths V normals – and Bester has no doubt at all as to the outcome of that conflict.
I haven’t read that trilogy yet. Personally, I like Bester. He’s a fun character.
OK, Bester certainly doesn’t call himself a monster, but I think it’s more complicated than that.
In his view, he’s not a monster to his people. While he knows the mundanes do think of him as such, he doesn’t really care about their opinion. They are irrelevant. However, in my opinion, Bester embraces his monster role and uses it to taunt mundanes. This is why he makes such inflammatory comments to Garibaldi and other.
So, at some level, I believe he does think of himself as a monster; a noble, protector monster for his people.
On the subject of the B5 books, I haven’t read any so is there a start point? Any must reads maybe it could be a quick geeking topic for the show.
Thomas, I have mostly only read the canon books, but I would certainly recommend the Jeanne Cavelos novels: Casting Shadows, Summoning Light and Invoking Darkness. It’s the Technomage trilogy. Also, Husband and I read The Shadow Within and treated it as sort of a prequel to those books. I honestly felt that the Technomage Trilogy would be my least favorite of the three trilogies and it totally blew me away. It’s an incredible arc and, if you are a Galen fan, you will see him in an entirely new light when you understand his background.
Happy reading!